The Great Big After the Dust Settles Bike Blog Roundup

After all the excitement last week, non-Londoners might be forgiven for hoping that London wouldn't dominate the blog roundup again but it's taken a while for the dust to settle after Boris's Bombshell and a more considered verdict to emerge (and yes, that post is rather long. Read it though, we'll wait). While the Cycling Silk says Hooray for Boris, London Cyclist asked if they are being short changed, while As Easy as Riding a Bike welcomes language that could have been lifted from our own Manifesto but worries about the detail of the junctions. Can't Stand Up for Falling Down wonders where disabled cycling fits in with Boris's vision while the People's Cycling Front of South Gloucestershire hopes to use it as a stick to beat the rest of Britain with. The Road Danger Reduction Forum finds some good bits while it turns out we've got Portland to thank for Boris's 'quietways'.

If there was one common thread in the caveats, it was that London's boroughs are its weakest link - certainly Made Good felt that if the outer boroughs are converted to cycling then nowhere will be safe from the contagion. Meanwhile though Richmond seems keen to become a mini-holland (or at least get its hands on the cash) it doesn't look as if Greenwich will be first in the queue. Perhaps Tufnell Park might one day get its safe route to school though.

Away from That London, Edinburgh has been busy with plans for a bike- and pedestrian-friendly George Street but at the cost of two-way cycling on Princes Street prompting Dave McCraw to get writing to his councillors (along with Dead Dog Blog"), while elsewhere in the city a junction improvement causes confusion for some and misses an opportunity to do better. Still, it could be worse, it could be Paisley. The government's Door to Door strategy to integrate public transport with walking and cycling is welcomed by Living Streets, while if the situation in Liverpool is anything to go by, it's got a way to go. Cycling Dumfries considers what would make a route suitable for a sensible 12-year-old while Great Gas Beetle discovers only confident cyclists should try and tackle Sheffield's main roads. In Cambridge a 20 mph area and more bike parking are proposed, while Bristol considers going it alone rather than diluting its ambitions with a local partnership. Researchers take a look at Tyneside's cyclists while across the Tyne Kats Dekker finds the people are ready for a greener Newcastle, it's the council that's falling behind. A Bournemouth cyclists is shocked to discover he's in the second most dangerous place to cycle - depending on how you crunch the numbers. In Manchester, Mad Cycle lanes considers suitable cycling entries for the Manchester parade - and gets the new look GMCC newsletter out. In Wales, the new Active Travel Bill may tackle the province's obesity while the Brompton Dock extends to Peterborough - and the whole of Tesco joins the Cycle to work scheme.

With much of the praise for the London announcement laid at bike campaigners' (and bloggers') doors (as well as mayors', of course), there was a lot of advice around this week. Bike Style Spokane considered hacks to encourage cycling and walking - something the Summer of Cycling seems to have failed to do - while a DC insider lifted the lid on what politicians think of cycling advocates (perhaps they should try and be more like horses?). People for Bikes celebrates more evidence that cycling is good for you (although perhaps not if you let your nose navigate) while Copenhagenize considers the case for closing streets to cut congestion and the Green Lanes Project helpfully has put all those protected bike lanes stats in one place. All this should help campaigners build alliances and expertise - especially now German expertise is to be made available in English. Lured to Lisbon by the promise of a loan bike, Dave Horton considers cycle advocacy in the dark days and in the brighter ones while Dave McCraw just opens a giant can of worms.

Money talks, of course, which makes it important that Transport for London is adjusting its business cases to account for bikes better. Perhaps they'll also consider the real cost of cars - including externalities - while is it time cycling reaped some of the benefit of all its (positive) externalities - if only for bike tourism and, er, cargobike canopy-makers.

As ever, the devil is in the detail: with the Leage of American Bicyclists calling for reform of the US traffic manual, Urban Movement considers the design of floating bus stops (not literally floating, that would be cool) by talking to those affected. As Easy As Riding a Bike doesn't want to bury gyratories just yet while both Cargobike Dad and the Alternative Department for Transport would like to see the back of rat runs. Pedestrianise London considers the role of repeater lights in doing the thinking for drivers (though not as much as the designer of this junction). In New York, Streetsblog considers the detail of different mixing zones while Cycle Space considers the implications of designing around cycling as opposed to walking.

Confession time: in all the excitement last week, we totally forgot about Mothering Sunday (and let's not even mention Women's bike history month) and so, it seems did Transport For London if their young person's delivery plan is anything to go by. Seattle Bike Blog considers how to use group rides to get kids riding independently, while Oregon is looking to do the opposite: it will mean a 16-year-old will be allowed to drive a car - but not ride a bike without a helmet. And while we applaud the sentiment of this post about women's bikes, we're not sure we agree with the definition - and besides, it's not women who are buying "ladies' bikes" it's geezers...

With London Cyclist looking forward to cycling in London in 2026, it seemed that bloggers had their crystal balls out this week, with cycling projections released (they're certainly following the trend of at least one street in London) and Atlantic Cities considering if the car will go the way of the steamship and the landline. Certainly, for cities of the future, bikes won't be a "nice to have" - but they don't have the luxury of time - they have to start transforming themselves now. Washington DC might have made a start by considering eliminating minimum parking requirements - something which has scuppered a proposed car-free apartment building in Boston (PugVelo provides some insight into the vexed issue of parking) - but even if people don't use their cars much what will it take to get them to ditch them?

Back in the here and now, with doorings on the rise it was a bad week for California cyclists, while in New York, artists have been memorialising the places where cyclists and pedestrians have died. Cambridge Cyclist reminds readers that there nothing careless about a close pass - while it takes a blow to the head to get WISOB (sort of the opposite of 'MAMIL') blogging. If you do come off your bike, make sure you get a lawyer who understands cycling, because the judge won't, and be prepared for the CPS to let you down anyway. While Canada fails to protect its vulnerable road users in Manchster some campaigners are taking the Big Society literally and have got their own speed gun.

In Ireland, a cheese-paring approach to the newest greenway will put cyclists and walkers at risk while Spain's proposed cycling legislation couldn't do a better job - if discouraging cycling was their aim. Elsewhere the news was better, with bikeshare spreading in the Midwest and even allowing common membership. In San Diego safer bike infrastructure is unanimously approved and complete streets approved in Memphis while Italy at least has some cycling MPs. Cycling has doubled in Paris - and is looking up in Budapest, and even Montreal gets a bike counter. With a long-distance high speed route planned, you might think of moving to the Netherlands - but there are perils there too: like having to stop commenting on every bike you see - and discovering your helmet cam videos get really boring.

And finally, with the equinox approaching, it's time for Bike Hour to get some rules (or maybe not) - either way the signs of spring are there from bikes emerging from hibernation, to pained letters from all-season cyclists to their fair weather friends to a chance to perfect your bike snow plough (that last might just be spring Edinburgh style, but in New York there are definite signs that Hell has frozen over...)